Romanian Deadlift
The Romanian deadlift (commonly abbreviated to RDL) is a hip based deadlift variation that places heavy emphasis on the Gluteus Maximus and Hamstrings. The RDL starts from the standing position and the barbell or added load normally will not touch the ground. Common Uses Teaching Tool The Romanian deadlift is normally the first or one of the first experiences a member has with the deadlift at Cascade Peak Performance. The goal of this stage of learning the deadlift is to teach the member how to hinge at the hip without dropping into the knees. Extra Hamstring Work After the lifter has moved on from the Romanian deadlift to trap bars or straight bars from the ground we may still use the Romanian deadlift as extra volume work for the hinge pattern and to specifically target the hamstring's capacity to extend the hip. Also, the RDL's limited load potential often makes it a better choice than doing extra volume on your main deadlift movement because you won't have to "artificially" lower your main deadlift numbers in the name of volume; you'll be able to work harder at the RDL at a lower weight. Performing Setup #The individual will start by standing tall with any weight they are using held in their hands with relaxed extended arms #The individual's ankle joints will sit directly below the hip joints (not wide, close, split) Execution #As the individual will start the movement by pushing the hips back. #As the hips move back the knees will be allowed to bend to allow the hips to move back and keep the lower leg perpendicular to the ground. #Once the individual reaches the bottom of the RDL or "depth" they will reverse the movement and come back to standing. Coaching ; Hips : The hips play the primary role in the Romanian deadlift. Driving the hips into flexion while keeping the spine neutral and the knees soft will put a large stretch through the glutes and hamstrings. :: Initial Cues to Drive the Hips Back ::*''"Drive the hips back to the wall behind you"'' ::::The goal of this external cue is to frame cuing the hip hinge using real markers and gesturing or pointing drive home external cues in order to find the hip hinge. ::*''"Put your hands on your knees like you're tired"'' ::::This cue can put the individual really close to a good hip hinge. You can follow it up with "Slightly push your knees back with your hands" if they are bending their knees too much. ::*''"This is a backward/forward movement, not an up and down movement"'' ::::This cue can help take the focus away from trying to touch the bar or hands "down" to the ground to what we're really working on which is driving the hips back. :: Cues to Correct Anterior Pelvic Tilt ::*''"Allow your chest to face toward the ground"'' ::::During an RDL with an anterior pelvic tilt the chest will try to remain vertical. By cuing the chest to face the ground you can get someone out of that pelvic tilt without having to launch into an explanation of pelvic tilt mechanics. ::*''"Squeeze your Glutes at the top"'' or "Hips all the way forward at the top" or "Push your hips into the bar" ::::Starting and finishing the movement with a neutral pelvis is prerequisite to perform the movement with a neutral pelvis. :: Cuing someone who has hypermobile hips/hamstrings ::*''"Maintain your brace all the way to the bottom of the lift"'' ::::Someone who is hypermobile can make an RDL look really good and end up almost touching the ground or touching the plates on the bar to the ground. Often times they've just sacrificed their abdominal brace at the bottom of the movement in order to go lower. If they are cued stop before they can't hold the brace they should end up at a natural stopping point higher than before. ::::Note: With the hypermobility of the hamstring they will likely never feel their hamstrings in the moment so cuing the hamstrings for this lifter likely won't work. ; Knees : The role of the knee in the Romanian deadlift is to bend just enough to allow the hips to move back. They should not bend to lower the lifter's hips toward the ground. The lifter may feel a fair amount of stretch at the hamstring as they approach the end range of motion. Extra bend at the knee eliminates that knee bend and might look like either a conventional deadlift or a squat. :: Cues to Correct Too Much Knee Bench ::*''"Less/No knees"'' ::::Using the cue "No knees" is a way of overcorrecting in the direction you want to go. If they truly lock out their knees then you can work back into that soft knee bend. ::*''Put a bench in front of their knees and tell them not to push their knees into the bench'' ::::Achieves the same as above but using a touch cue. ::*''"Can you feel/find your hamstrings?"'' ::::We're looking for a stretch feeling in the hamstring at the bottom of the movement. ; Spine/Back : The muscles around the spine are in charge of holding the spine in a neutral position through the entire movement. :: Cues to correct a rounded back ::*''"Keep your shoulder blades pulled in toward your spine"'' or "Put your shoulder blades in your back pocket" ::::It becomes really hard to have a round lazy back with a strong shoulder blade position. :: Cuing a neutral neck position ::*''"Face your face toward the " as you drop a small object on the ground a couple feet in front of the lifters feet'' ::::Its important to accent that it's their face that should be pointing toward the and to not continue to crane the neck and look down with the eyes. You may also have to cue to "Look forward" at the top so they don't continue to look at the object at the top of the movement. ; Generic Cues : Filler text :: Cuing to "feel it" ::* "Drive through the heels to come up" ::::If the lifter is having a hard time feeling their glutes working driving through the heels can sometimes work better than "squeeze your butt" Modifications and Loading Regressions *Bench Bends - Bench Bends place the lifter kneeling on a bench while performing a hip hinge. This variation takes the knees out of the movement and allows the lifter to focus on the action at the hip without having to navigate the knee bend. :Note: The lifter will not feel the hamstrings in this variation because the knees start in a bent position. *Toe Back - The toe back is a regressed version of the single leg Romanian deadlift and can be used with people who are having trouble physically moving their hips back or they're feeling a lot of tension in their low back on the bilateral RDL. Common Variants *SL Romanian Deadlift *1.5 Romanian Deadlift Adding Load Load can be added not only with a variety of implements but also at other vectors. ;Bodyweight : The most basic load is simply using your own bodyweight. In this variant you will use no external weight or force outside of gravity. Your arms can hang by your side or you can cross them across your chest. Normally we will move past bodyweight to one of the variants listed below pretty quickly once the pattern is learned. ::Style Guide :::-Romanian Deadlift or RDL :::-Add BW at the beginning if you want the lifter to stick with only their bodyweight and not attempt to add weight ;Dumbbells/Kettlebells : An easy move from the bodyweight version, the dumbbell or kettlebell version is performed with a dumbbell in each hand with your arms resting by your side. ::Pros :::-Load can be kept in a shoulder neutral position :::-Load can be kept closer to your center of mass than a barbell variant :::-Easier to load very small amounts ::Cons :::-Grip can be a limiting factor ::Style Guide :::-DB Romanian Deadlift or DB RDL ;Barbell : Quickly after learning how to use their bodyweight they will likely be able to load the RDL using a barbell. The hands are place just outside the thighs (thumbs normally touching the thighs) and the barbell is taken out of a Squat Rack ::Pros :::-Can be loaded infinitely with grip issues being solved using straps or mixed grip ::Cons :::-Places the load out front slightly so it can be more bothersome on the low back than the dumbbell or band variants ::Style Guide :::-Romanian Deadlift or RDL :::-Add Bar at the beginning if you specifically want the lifter to use a barbell, often this is not necessary as it will be the default tool ;Jump Stretch Band : The individual can stand inside a band with the band encircling their hips and hooked on something bolted down or very heavy at about hip height. The movement is performed with the band around the hips and the hips moving back toward the anchor point and forward away from the anchor point. ::Pros :::-There is very little sheering force on the spine as the load is below the spine and is in the same direction as the spine ::Cons :::-Hard to load heavier ::Style Guide :::-Band Romanian Deadlift or Band RDL Uncommon Loading Uncommon loading options are rarely seen. *Accommodating Resistance Bands *Chains *Unilateral Loaded **DB **Barbell Definitions ; Depth :The depth of a Romanian deadlift change wildly from person to person with a lot of people settling to the hands/weight reaching to just below the knee. The markers we are looking for are however low the individual can go while keeping the lower leg perpendicular to the ground and while keeping the spine neutral. They will likely feel a stretch in their hamstrings at the bottom of the movement. Further Reading *An electromyographic and kinetic comparison of conventional and Romanian deadlifts *Perfecting the Romanian Deadlift by Mike Robertson